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The Gospel of Jesus Christ According to
St. Matthew Pasquier
Quesnel Translated
by the Rev. Daniel Wilson, D.D., Vicar of Islington and now Bishop of Chapter XXVII. Sect. I. Christ Delivered To Pilate. The
Repentance And Death Of Judas. 1. WHEN the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2. And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Let us adore Jesus Christ bound as a
malefactor, and de livered up as a profane person to the secular power. He
herein bears the punishment of the sinner, who deserves to be haled thus
before the judgment-seat of God. This is the consolation of guilty prisoners,
the glory of the innocent, and a source of graces and merits to sanctify our
liberty, and the use we should make thereof, to bless the bonds of those who
are in captivity, and to hallow their condition. 3. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Behold the false repentance of a
reprobate! The devil blinds the sinner before the commission of sin, in order
to hurry him into it; and opens his eyes afterward, to cast him into despair.
There is no beneficial sight and sense of our faults but what proceeds from
the grace of Christ. A man may know his sin, conceive an abhorrence of it,
repent of it, confess it, restore his ill-gotten goods, retire from the occasion,
and yet be a false penitent like Judas. All becomes in effectual, when a man
has his eyes only upon the justice of God through a servile fear, without
turning them toward his mercy by a Christian hope. That which was wanting to
Judas, and is the only refuge of sinners, is humbly to have recourse to God
by Jesus Christ. 4. Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. There is a sacrilegious confession, a
diabolical humiliation, and a despairing repentance. These, without an
extraordinary grace, are the natural consequences of calumny, incited by
avarice and self-interest, and become irreparable by oppressing the innocent.
It is a terrible judgment, not to be able to find one friend ready to offer
us his hand after our fall. This is a just punishment for having left the
society of the good, and despised the charitable hand of Christ. A true
pastoral charity is to be found only in the apostolic church. Those who
engage us in a sinful course seldom trouble them selves to recover us out of
it. It is natural to mercenary pastors to be unconcerned at the fall of their
sheep. 5. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. For want of confidence, repentance is
false. See here the miserable and desperate end of a covetous wretch, gnawed
by the remorse of his conscience for his injustice in acquiring his wealth,
and delivered up to the despair of his own mind. Every thing is wanting to a
sinner, when hope is wanting; and there can be no hope in God, where there is
no love of God. If nothing but fear of punishment excite
a man to repentance, the more vehement this is, the more it leads to despair.
6. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. Who would not admire this great care of
the chief priests in not defiling the holy treasury with profane money, while
at the same time they scruple not to defile their own consciences with the
greatest of crimes, and deliver up the true Temple of God to profane men? Thus
it is that the devil often deludes many, even among the priests, by a false
and superstitious tenderness of conscience in things indifferent, while
calumny, envy, oppression of the innocent, and the most heinous sins, give
them no manner of trouble or disturbance. 7. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Blind and merciless priests, very careful
in laying out Judas’s money, but not in the least concerned what would become
of his soul! Would to God that abundance of Christians were
not under the same blindness! Jesus Christ him self honours his death and
burial, by making the price of his blood serviceable to the burying of Jewish
strangers. His charity in doing good to his enemies
is indefatigable; and his wisdom continually intent on turning every
circumstance of their crime to some advantage. He does this good to the
foreign Jews, perhaps, because they, not having been witnesses of his life
and miracles, were the chief persons who cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” 8. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10. And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. The Holy Scripture, having foretold every thing,
renders all the Jews utterly inexcusable. In vain do the wicked endeavour to
conceal themselves; God makes them instrumental in
discovering their own wickedness. Judas, by returning back the money, and the priests by laying it out, raise to themselves
an eternal monument the one of his treachery, the others of their
perfidiousness. Sect. II. Christ Before Pilate. Barabbas. The Clamour Of The Jews Against Christ. 11. And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. Jesus Christ answers out of respect to the
authority of God, whose image he would honour even in a wicked judge. A man
is not freed from the obligation of bearing witness to the truth, though the
usefulness and advantage of it do not appear; and though on the contrary it
may be the occasion of a kind of scandal, of persecution, and even of the
death of him who bears it. Christ here witnesses “a good confession,” as St.
Paul calls it, (1 Tim. vi. 13,) which establishes his divinity, the power of
his cross, the kingdom of his truth, and the inviolable rights and almighty
strength of his grace. Christ knows how to reconcile the modesty of humility,
with out disclaiming his sovereignty. How rare and difficult is this! 12. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. 13. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? 14. And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly. A man may show a
contempt of accusations by a generous silence when he sees that truth
is not sought, but only a pretence of crimes to justify persecution. None are
more worthy of contempt, and more unworthy to hear the voice of truth, than
those who persecute it knowingly, as these chief priests and elders did.
Silence under calumny is something more wonderful than miracles. These
priests admire it not, be cause it confounds them; but a heathen is greatly
affected with it, because he is not so averse to truth, has more sincerity,
and is less under the dominion of his passions. When a man has once given
himself up to envy and detraction, he is entirely possessed by them; his
senses, his understanding, and his heart are become their perfect slaves.
Dreadful, though voluntary captivity! Preserve us, Lord, from so great a
misfortune! 15. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. 16. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. 17. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? A comparison strangely humbling! What
sinner could bear it without murmuring? We often find in a secular magistrate
more inclination to support the truth, than in those who are obliged by their
profession to defend it. A moral heathen would sometimes be more affected
with the condition of an innocent person oppressed, than even Christians and
corrupt priests. 18. For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. Since envy is capable of putting Christ
himself to death, Low necessary is it to extinguish even the least sparks
there of! Truth is sometimes persecuted through policy, some times through
engagement, complaisance, surprise, or ignorance; but the most implacable of
all its enemies is envy, and especially that of ecclesiastical persons. Too
often men think they lend their authority to justice and truth, when a little
reflection would show them that they resign it up to iniquity and envy. 19. When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. Wives have frequently but too much credit
and influence on the mind of judges, even in unjust causes; but nothing is
favourable to the cause of Christ, because our sins are against him. Every
thing testifies his innocence; but it is on this very account, because he is
innocence itself, that he must die for sinners, and be their victim. 20. But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. We see here how dangerous in the church
wicked priests are. When pastors are once corrupted, they are capable of
inducing their flock to prefer Barabbas before
Jesus, the world before God, pleasure before their salvation, and their
passions before a life of faith and Christian mortification. A wise and pious
director of the conscience is a proper guide to seek and find Jesus Christ.
An ignorant or vicious director is good for nothing but to destroy and
extinguish his life in the soul. 21. The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. This is, on the part of men, a criminal
preference of a murderer before the Author of life; but, on the part of God,
it is a necessary preference in order to our salvation. The Father delivers
up his only Son for every one of us, and prefers our salvation to his life.
It is an extreme humiliation for Christ to be judged less worthy to live than
a robber and murderer. This gives us an abhorrence; and yet what else does a
sinner do but pass the same judgment, when, after having tasted of Christ and
of the sweetness of his Spirit, he forsakes him to deliver himself up to sin?
This momentary pleasure which we prefer to Jesus Christ, is it not a robber
of our goods, and a murderer of our life; the one more excellent without comparison
than the goods of fortune, and the other, than the life of the body? 22. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? How many are there, even among Christians,
who know not what use they ought to make of Christ, either because they
neglect to learn, or because due care is not taken to instruct them! What
shall we do with Jesus, if we make him not our Mediator, our Saviour, our
Life, our Strength to go to God, our Refuge in all our evils, and the object
of our adoration, acknowledgment, love, confidence, and religion; since in
reality God has made him our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. 23. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. What strange fury proceeds from blindness!
To deliver up to death Him who gives life to the soul, and to save him who
takes away the goods, ease, and life of the body! Let our indignation be
kindled more against our own sins than against the Jews; since they are those
which cry out by the mouth of these, and require the death of Christ. It is
absolutely necessary that God should be satisfied, and he will not be so
otherwise than by the sacrifice of the cross. Let us suffer with Christ, at
least in some manner, that which we make him suffer.
Let our flesh, with its affections and lusts, be
nailed to the cross with him. 24. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. In vain does a cowardly judge cast on
others the injustice which he commits: God will certainly judge him. That which a judge, a magistrate, a person in
authority, owes to innocence, consists not in words, excuses, or a bare
testimony in its favour, but in a real protection. He who does not oppose
injustice to the utmost of his power when he ought,
is no better than a prevaricator. The world is full of persons like Pilate,
very favourably disposed toward what is good, who yet scarce ever do any;
very zealous for truth, justice, and innocence, provided it cost them nothing,
and that they be not obliged to declare openly on their side. 25. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. The blood of Jesus Christ is the salvation
of some, and the condemnation of others. Men expose themselves to all manner
of evils in order to satisfy their passions. The sinner knows not what it is
to be accountable to God for the blood of his Son. Though, when he gives
himself up to sin, he does not perhaps speak so plainly as the Jews here do,
yet his sin itself speaks the same thing for him. Lord, let thy blood be on
me, to redeem me; on my heart and body, to purify them; on my thoughts and
desires, to sanctify them; and on my life and actions, to consecrate them
entirely to thee. Sect. III. Christ Scourged, Crowned With
Thorns, And Mocked. 26. Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. When the love of justice is surmounted by
interest, human respects, and the prospect of improving a man’s fortune,
after some weak and faint opposition he yields at length to iniquity. A judge
who has not courage enough openly to oppose in justice, will, on the first
occasion, insensibly become a slave thereto. Every one of us is this Barabbas, delivered from death by that of Jesus. Who is
that adopted child who will refuse to be chastised by the hand of God his
Father, when he sees his only-begotten Son scourged by the hands of executioners?
27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. Let us adore Jesus Christ, given up to the
rage of the soldiers. He is the consolation of holy persons in this
condition, and of the church exposed to the violence and insults of the men
of the sword, and of the wicked. By being stripped in order to suffer, to be
mocked, and to clothe us with his righteousness, he condemns and expiates
that criminal unseemliness in dress which has impurity and pride for its
root, and for its fruit, sin, scandal, and a kind of idolatry. Can those who
ruin themselves, to outshine others in the sumptuousness of their apparel,
behold Jesus Christ in this condition, and not be ashamed of their vanity and
injustice? 29. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! Let the crown of thorns make those
Christians blush who throw away so much time, pains, and money, in
beautifying and adorning a sinful head. Can those who exact even a kind of
adoration from men, consider Christ in this condition, with out being humbled
for their pride? Let the world do what it will to render thy royalty and
mysteries contemptible, Jesus! it is my glory to
serve a King thus abased, my salvation to adore that which the world
despises, and my religion to go to God by the merits of a God crowned with
thorns. 30. And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. Let us pay our adoration, and humble
ourselves in silence, at the sight of a spectacle which faith alone renders
credible, and which our senses would hardly endure. Jesus Christ, in this
condition, preaches to the kings of the earth this truth,
that their sceptres are but reeds, with which they shall be smote,
bruised, and crushed at his tribunal, if they do not use them here to the
advancement of his kingdom in the world. This reed in the hand of Christ will
be changed into a sceptre of love for some, and into
a rod of iron for others. It is in our power to choose which we please. 31. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him; and led him away to crucify him. All the rules of justice which protect
criminals from the insults of private persons, are
violated in respect of Christ. Would to God he were not still made the daily
laughing-stock of the wicked by their raillery and their pretended acts of
worship. To make him subservient to any passion whatever, is to mock him. Let
us follow Jesus Christ going toward the cross loaded with reproaches and
ignominies. But how can we follow thee, Jesus, if thou thyself dost not draw
us by the virtue of this cross? Sect. IV. The Cross Carried By Simon. The
Crucifixion. The Thieves. 32. And as they came out, they found a man of Gyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. We see in Simon the Cyrenian
a representation of the flesh, which bears not the cross but by constraint,
and being mortified by the spirit. Let us bless the Lord that he does not in
this matter consult our inclinations. If God waited for us, and our choice of
crosses and afflictions, Jesus Christ crucified would have but few imitators.
That he chooses them for us, and often lays them upon us by the hands of men,
is a mercy which renders the cross more beneficial, and spares our weakness. 33. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, 34. They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. The comforts of the world are always
mingled with gall. It never flatters us but in order either to ruin or
intoxicate us, as the Jews would refresh Christ for fear he should escape
their cruelty, and to prolong his sufferings. Jesus chooses to suffer, and to
adore God his Father, even to the last gasp. The children of Adam do what
they can to assuage their pain, and to render themselves insensible thereof;
the true children of the cross are very glad to join the sacrifice of their
heart to that of their sufferings by the exercise of their faith. 35. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots. Jesus Christ, behaving himself as a
criminal, does not dispose even of his clothes. In every thing he gives us a
great submission to the laws of humility, of poverty, of contempt of worldly
things. He who, at the time of death, is not perplexed with the care of
dividing his earthly substance, may offer up his sacrifice with much more
peace and application of his mind to God. Christ bears the shame of nakedness
which sin brought upon man, in his body; and repairs that deplorable
deprivation of the gifts of God wherewith the sinner was punished in his
soul. Vouchsafe, Lord, hereby to give me a salutary shame and confusion, on
the account of my poverty, and of my corporal and spiritual nakedness. 36. And sitting down they watched him there; We see but too many near the altar while
the sacrifice is offering, as the soldiers were near the cross, who not only receive no profit from it themselves, but
likewise hinder others from profiting as they ought by the attention and
devotion of their minds. Happy that person, who, in perfect tranquillity of
soul, has no other business but to place himself at the
foot of the cross by meditation, that he may adore the Author of his
salvation, and engrave his image on his own heart! 37. And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS. The Holy Ghost, master both of the tongue
and hands of the wicked, makes them often speak very great truths, when they
design only to ridicule and expose them. This title is the sentence of the
condemnation of false Jews, and the title of the purchase of true Israelites,
Jews or Gentiles, made by Jesus Christ on the cross. Yes, Lord, by thy death
thou hast acquired a right to subject the world to thyself, and to form thy
church out of all the people of the earth. Happy I, in finding myself in the
number of those over whom thou hast been pleased to preserve thy rights! 38. Then were there two thieves crucified with him; one on the right hand, and another on the left. Jesus Christ is compared and joined with
criminals, to show that he came for the sake of sinners, and that for them he
sheds his blood. The crucifixion of Christ between two thieves is a lively
representation of the mixture of good and bad in the present church, and of
the separation which will be made of them at the last day. All are sinners
till they are crucified with Christ, and partake of the merits of his death;
but all those who partake outwardly of them in the body of the church, are
not on that account justified before God. Sinners, penitent and impenitent,
divide all mankind, represented here by these two thieves. Sect. V. Blasphemies Against Christ.
Darkness. He Cries Out, And Dies. 39. And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40. And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Let us adore Jesus Christ crucified, and
exposed to the contempt, the scoffs, and blasphemies of men: he will continue
exposed to them to the end of the world. This is an occasion of scandal to
those who view it only with carnal eyes. A High Priest who designs to destroy
the temple of God; a Saviour who saves not himself; and a Son of God
crucified, these are the contradictions which give offence to Jews and
libertines. But a High Priest who dispels the types and shadows only that he
may disclose the substance of religion, and become the minister of a heavenly
sanctuary; a Saviour who dies only to be the victim of salvation; and a Son
of God who confines his power within the bounds of the cross, to establish
the righteousness of faith, this is what a Christian adores, this is the
foundation of all his confidence. 41. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42. He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. Few are there who, after the example of
Christ, can bear the humiliation of the cross to the last, and the insults of
carnal men. These insults under humiliation, are, to
virtuous persons, one of the strongest and severest trials. It is a just
cause to make us tremble and humble ourselves, to see the chief priests and
corrupt doctors the first who deride the cross, and those who profess to love
it. A man is very blind and ignorant as to the designs of God, when he
refuses to adore and follow a crucified King. Make men comprehend, my God,
that it is by the cross that thou wilt reign in their hearts; and that this
obstacle to the faith of the Jews is the source, the object, and the strength
of the Christian’s faith, and the consolation, hope, and love of the elect! 43. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have* him: for he said, I am the Son of God. [* Fr. love.] Carnal man cannot imagine that God loves
those whom he permits to suffer; that he whom he exercises by afflictions can
put his trust in him; and that a person crucified can have God for his
Father. Blessed be thou, Lord, for having taught me by faith that the cross
is a gift of thy love, the foundation of our confidence, the mark of lawful
children, and the title which gives us a right to the inheritance and kingdom
of the Father! Cause me to love that which I believe. 44. The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth. The cross is a matter of scandal to all
those who, being punished for their sins, make not a penitential use of it.
The wicked suffer, blaspheming; many even of the righteous, complaining; few,
like Jesus Christ, silent, and humbling them selves. If crosses are not as it
were anointed by the Spirit of God, they become an insupportable burden, a
subject of murmuring, and an occasion of sin. 45. Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. This miraculous darkness should have made
the enemies of Christ understand that he was the light of the world; and
that, because they did not follow it, it was taken from them. But darkness is
always darkness to those who are abandoned to that of their own heart,
whereof the other is no more than a figure. 46. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? In the most virtuous persons, though the
spirit love the cross, yet the flesh ceases not to complain thereof. This cry
should make us in some measure conceive what it is to bear not only the
judgment of God, but the whole flood of his anger and justice. It is less a
complaint than an instruction, in the mouth of Christ, whereby he would fix
our minds on the greatness of his sufferings, the mysteries of his cross, and
the severity of his Father’s conduct toward him in his death. How many things
does this why comprehend? It is a question which cannot be fully answered,
but by explaining the fall of Adam and of his posterity in him, the design of
God’s mercy as to their reparation and recovery, the nature and rigour of his
justice, the necessity of a sacrifice worthy of God, and all the
incomprehensible designs of his wisdom in the establishment of the Christian
religion, and in the work of eternal salvation. 47. Some of them that stood there, when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48. And straightway one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. 49. The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. The cross is a scandal to heretics and to
the wicked, who falsify and corrupt the word of God,
and ridicule the mysteries of faith. Wo to the
wicked, who continue and increase the sufferings of Christ, while the
righteous fulfil them holily in themselves! That which is done here by the
people who stand round about the cross, is a representation of what passes
frequently at our altars, where a very small number apply themselves to offer
up, in spirit and in truth, the (representative) sacrifice of Jesus Christ;
but where abundance of persons, through the evil disposition of their hearts,
give as it were vinegar to Christ inflamed with the thirst of their
salvation. 50. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. This cry of Jesus teaches us, that his
death does not proceed from the decay of his strength, but from the excess of
his love; that his life is not taken from him by violence, but that he gives
it up by his power. It is, on the part of the Jews, a Deicide and a
sacrilege; but on his own, it is a most holy and voluntary sacrifice. Cry of
Jesus! penetrate to the very bottom of my heart,
cure its deafness, and wake it from its drowsiness, that it may be entirely
employed in adoring, loving, and praising a God dying for its salvation, and
in humbling itself before his cross! This last moment of Christ’s life is, to
dying persons, the object of their confidence. Let my spirit, Jesus, be
received with thine, and let thy death sanctify
mine! Sect. VI. The Miracles After Christ’s
Death. The Centurion. 51. And, behold, the vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; God delays not long to manifest and exalt the
glory of his Son. He takes care to honour the humiliations and sufferings of
his elect and of their Head. The vail of sin, which
separated us from the sanctuary, and obstructed our sight and entrance into
it, is rent by the sacrifice of Christ; and the figurative sanctuary is
exposed to the view of the whole world, as having lost every thing which made
it holy and venerable. Let thy death, Jesus, work in my heart the same
miracles; let it have always before its eyes that heavenly sanctuary, where
all its hopes are placed; let it quake through a holy dread of thy mysteries
and judgments; and let it be rent by the sorrow of a true contrition. 52. And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53. And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. All nature seems to answer that
expostulation of Christ, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” by declaring
the fruits of his death. The vail being rent, shows that this death is to put an end to the
figurative worship, and to establish the true religion and holiness. The earthquake, that it is to make known on earth the eternal
judgments of God on sinners. The rocks being rent, declare that it is to make
way for the grace of repentance. The graves being opened, that it is to
destroy the death of sin, and to confer the life of grace on sinners. And, in
the last place, the rising of the saints shows that it is to merit and
publish the eternal happiness of body and soul for the children of promise. Adorable
death, imprint thyself on my mind, and produce
therein all these effects! 54. Now when the centurion, and they that were him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. Let us honour these first effects of the
death of Jesus Christ wrought on the centurion and the pagan soldiers. Who,
considering these, will not hope? It is good to be near the cross; its virtue
diffuses itself even among those who are ignorant of its power and holiness:
it is a great matter not to be averse to it, while all the
world dishonours it. Those who knowingly and out of passion oppose the truth, are without comparison at a greater distance from
salvation, than those who serve the passions of its persecutors out of
ignorance, and in barely discharging their office. God has often pity on
these; the others are scarce ever to be converted. Sect. VII. The Holy Women. Joseph Of Arimathea. The Sepulchre. 55. And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him: 56. Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children. Difference of sex makes none as to
salvation. The weakest becomes the strongest, being fortified and animated by
grace. God delights to give this to the weakest persons, and to leave the
strongest to themselves, because he loves to make
his power conspicuous in weakness. To attend at the death of Christ, and not
to be afraid of the cross, is the reward of having followed, attended upon,
and ministered unto him, in the time of his life. 57. When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus disciple: 58. He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. A rare instance of fidelity and uncommon courage
this, in a person who has much to lose, to expose himself thus to all hazards
to serve Christ; and that, not while he is forking miracles, but even when he
is fastened to a cross. There is a time for a man to conceal himself, and a
time to appear on the behalf of Christ and his truth. When all
the world deserts it, then is the time to declare ourselves with the
greater zeal on its side. Necessity is one mark of our being called to a good
work, then, principally, when there is neither honour nor advantage to be
expected from it on the part of men, and when there is nothing in nature but
what tends to discourage us from it. 59. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60. And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. What objections would not human prudence
have made to Joseph, had he consulted it on this occasion? It would have
represented to him, that this was to expose himself, to bring himself into
trouble, to render himself suspected, to put him self into an incapacity of
ever doing any good, to ruin himself irrecoverably, etc. There is sometimes
in our whole life but one single opportunity in which God designs to employ
us, and we are for reserving ourselves for others, wherein he will have none
of our service. We lose the grace of the first opportunity, and deserve to be
deprived of it ever after. Happy that person who receives Jesus Christ into a
new and clean heart, which has not been defiled by sin, and who takes care to
secure the door thereof against the spirit of the world! 61. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. Assiduity in meditating on the death of Christ, is the proper employment of those who ardently
love him. Death can not extinguish a friendship formed by the Spirit of God,
and newly cemented with the blood of Christ. The fidelity of faith consists
in adhering firmly to Him whom we do not see; and this is the grace of these
holy women. They learn, being near the sepulchre, to hide themselves
from the world, and to be buried with Jesus Christ. It is always time to
learn it with them. Sect. VIII. A Watch Set At The Sepulchre. 62. Now the next day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63. Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Let us adore Jesus Christ injured and
persecuted, even in the grave, by those who ought to be the most holy. How
many precautions are here taken to stifle the truth, to bury the memory of
it, and to shut up all the avenues to faith; but how vain do they all prove
against the designs of the divine wisdom! These men publish beforehand the
mystery of the resurrection, by endeavouring to hinder the belief of it; and,
by their own words, destroy their false accusation concerning the destruction
of the temple, while they themselves declare the true meaning of the
prophecy. So blind is human prudence! 64. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. The prudence of men is utterly ineffectual
in opposition to God. He makes it, in spite of them, subservient to his designs:
permitting them to anticipate their own calumnies, and to furnish arguments
to refute themselves. Faith is the source of great repose and peace, through
its docility and sincerity. An unbelieving person torments himself without
end, that he may maintain himself in his incredulity. 66. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. The Jews, contrary to their own design,
confirm the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and take pains only to render them
selves inexcusable in their infidelity. Let the great pretenders to reason
tell us, if they can, what precautions have been omitted to obviate all the
pretences of incredulity. The testimony of the enemies of the church is the
confirmation of her faith; and their false prudence the confutation of all
the cavils of unbelievers. |
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